Hyperliquid said in a post on X on 26 October 2026 that it intends Payward, the parent company of Kraken, to be the first CFTC-regulated deployer on its HIP-3 markets, The Block reported. The protocol described itself as a neutral infrastructure layer and said deployers keep control of, and responsibility for, their own markets.
The structure follows Payward's press release of 16 September 2026: Bitnomial Exchange, a CFTC-regulated designated contract market, would list the contracts and act as HIP-3 deployer; Bitnomial Clearinghouse, a registered derivatives clearing organization, would clear and settle them; and NinjaTrader Clearing, a registered futures commission merchant, would carry US client accounts. Only accounts onboarded by NinjaTrader and present on both allowlists could trade. HIP-3 lets deployers restrict access through onchain allowlists; that permissioning functionality is on testnet, the specification may still change, and the deployment remains subject to regulatory approval. No launch date has been given.
For traders nothing changes today: Hyperliquid's existing perp markets and the HIP-3 venues already live, such as trade.xyz, are unaffected, and a Payward market would be a separate, gated book. The open question The Block raises is how KYC and permissioning would work in practice on a public chain. See the Hyperliquid profile on dexwatch.
Sources
- The Block – Hyperliquid says Kraken parent Payward to be first CFTC-regulated HIP-3 deployer (26 Oct 2026)
- Payward – Payward Intends to Bring Onchain Perpetual Futures to US Clients, Starting on Hyperliquid (16 Sep 2026)
- crypto.news – Hyperliquid outlines Payward's bid for first regulated US HIP-3 markets